Hundreds object to closing schools

Consolidation plan would affect three S.F. elementaries

Nov. 13, 2012

Pam Homan

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Hundreds have signed petitions or written to the Sioux Falls School Board objecting to a plan to consolidate three elementary schools into one.

Some want to save Longfellow, Mark Twain and Jefferson for their architectural value. Others say the schools, each with less than 300 students, provide a better learning environment than a new larger elementary would, or are anchors for their neighborhoods.

On Nov. 26, the board will weigh those against financial considerations as they vote on the consolidation plan, which would result in a new, 600-student school on the Mark Twain site for the 2015-16 school year, and a new building for Spanish immersion in northwest Sioux Falls a year later.

Administrators have said operating one central Sioux Falls elementary school instead of three will save $800,000 a year, and closing the schools would avoid $8.2 million in renovations at Longfellow and Mark Twain.

“I’m sensitive to and appreciate when somebody says, if we do this we’re going to save three-quarters of a million dollars a year,” said David Andersen, who has a daughter in kindergarten at Mark Twain.

But Andersen thinks non-monetary arguments in this case are more persuasive. He said he didn’t know what to think of the plan when it first was presented, but he’s done research and is convinced small schools are better for students. He also sees value in schools that neighborhood students can get to by foot — particularly Longfellow, which is not far from a thriving downtown.

“I think in 10 or 15 years, I think people may look back and say, wow, I wish we had a school at Longfellow,” he said.

Despite two public input sessions, Superintendent Pam Homan’s recommendation last week did not change from the consolidation plan she outlined in July.

Andersen, who attended one of those meetings, has since set up a petition at change.org, which found 55 signers in its first two days. He’s urging the board to vote no and to go ahead with the renovations.

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A separate petition, signed by 150 parents, employees and past students of Longfellow previously was submitted to the board.

“We believe in Longfellow,” it read. “We like the small school and small classroom sizes. We like that it doesn’t take long for everyone in the building to know our children by name. We like to be able to walk to school and be near our children, even while they’re at school.”

Fred Stephens, a former Lincoln High School principal, and his wife Shirley, a retired teacher, both signed it. Their children went to Longfellow, and they still live in the neighborhood.

“These are very nice schools, and I’m sure it would be expensive to renovate, but that would be worth doing,” she said.

“Large schools kind of remind me of factories,” he said.

The city Board of Historic Preservation also wrote a letter to the board, saying the buildings that house Longfellow (built in 1916) and Jefferson (1948) should be preserved, even if the schools are closed.

“It is our responsibility, as a community, to save these pieces of our past, thereby providing future generations some insight into the values and traditions of those that came before us,” they wrote.

The prevailing sentiment among those who’ve contacted the board favors keeping the schools open, but some parents would welcome a new school at Mark Twain.

“I believe the timeline should be moved up so that our kids have the best opportunity in the new school, and saving money from costs that might be put into old buildings,” wrote Jeff Backer, a Mark Twain parent.

Chris Lidel, a general contractor with a child in Spanish immersion, said fast action on building new schools would take advantage of low construction costs.